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Aflypast is a ceremonial or honorific flight by aircraft. The term flypast is used in theUnited Kingdom and theCommonwealth. In theUnited States, the termsflyover andflyby are used.
Flypasts are often tied in with Royal or state events, anniversaries, celebrations, and occasionally funerary or memorial occasions. Flypasts also occur in special situations, to honour someone or to celebrate certain types of aircraft. They are tied toparades, of which they form the aerial component. Often they occur in purely display contexts atairshows, but it is the flypasts linked with civic, ceremonial and national pride, that imprint themselves on a nation's memory.[citation needed] Some flypasts have been described in broadcast and print media as "historic".
Flypasts are regularly featured in public and ceremonial life in the United Kingdom, where they function as a particular kind ofaerial salute. They serve to show respect, display aircraft, showcase flying skills and as a form ofentertainment to delight the public, for example, during their annual appearance afterTrooping the Colour. Flypasts reflect milestones of national life, varying in scope from personal, to community and local, to military, and to national. They may honour individuals in private or public life or commemorate happenings at a particular location. They are also used to honour aircraft. On occasions both small and large they may occur over land or sea, sometimes connected with memorial or thanksgiving services.
InCommonwealth countries—notablySingapore,Canada andAustralia—they occur on national days and occasionally on anniversaries. They are seen more rarely in other territories.
Flypast locations are usually of national importance. In the UK, these includeBuckingham Palace, where theRoyal Family on the balcony will join the thousands of spectators in streets and parks below. OtherLondon settings have included theRiver Thames. The 50th and 60th anniversaries of World War II were celebrated by flypasts overNormandy inFrance. Festivities ofTrafalgar 200 were centred overPortsmouth and at sea.
Settings have included theNational Stadium,The Float@Marina Bay and thePadang inSingapore;Rajpath inNew Delhi, India; Pakistan's Parliament House inIslamabad; Australia'sParliament House andAnzac Parade to theAustralian War Memorial, inCanberra;Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; andRizal Park inManila,Philippines.
The connection of Trooping the Colour with Royal Air Force flypasts began in 1913 when theRoyal Flying Corps MilitaryWing performed a flypast forKing George V on Laffan's Plain, near Aldershot.[1]
On 6 July 1935, George V carried out hisSilver Jubilee Review of theRoyal Air Force atRAF Duxford andRAF Mildenhall which included 200 aircraft on the ground and a flypast of 350 aircraft.
King George VI attended a flypast at the opening ceremony of theEmpire Exhibition, Scotland 1938 atIbrox Stadium on 5 May 1938, with his consortQueen Elizabeth.
Flypasts are a regular occurrence in the United Kingdom at national events or commemorations. In 1954 the Queen conducted a Coronation Review of the Royal Air Force atRAF Odiham which included a flypast by about 640 aircraft - among them 440 jet aircraft.[2]
On many occasions, the flypasts are performed by theRed Arrows aerobatic team of theRoyal Air Force, but on more important events like Royal occasions, for example the Queen's 80th birthday during 2006, was a flypast following theTrooping the Colour. Headed by the Lancaster with 2 Hurricanes and 2 Spitfires (Battle of Britain Memorial Flight), the 49 aircraft in 9 formations included Typhoons, Jaguars, Tristar, VC10, C-17A Globemaster III and E-3 Sentry. The highlight was a "Diamond 9" formation of Tornado GR4s and the appearance of aCanberra escorted by the Red Arrows.
Historic aircraft of theBattle of Britain Memorial Flight, includingSupermarine Spitfires and theAvro Lancaster perform flypasts throughout the year particularly on military anniversaries and occasions and as a mark of respect at funerals and memorial services.
On 31 March 2021 the Red Arrows performed a flypast as part of a series of commemorative events taking place in Australia to mark the centenary celebrations of theRoyal Australian Air Force (RAAF).[3]
In many countries, flypasts, normally performed by the precision aerobatic team of a country'sair force, are an integral part ofRepublic Day orNational Day celebrations.
OnCanada Day 1 July, theSnowbirds of theRoyal Canadian Air Force perform a flyby overParliament Hill in Ottawa. In 2017, this flypast was extended to 39 aircraft to markCanada's 150th birthday.
ThePakistan Air Force conducts a flypast every year on 23 March to commemorate theLahore Declaration and theRepublic Day ofPakistan which occurred on 23 March 1956. This is done inIslamabad.
InSingapore the National Day Parade on 9 August 2005 celebrated 40 years of independence with an elaborate flypast[4]including twoChinook helicoptersflying the national flag past the Esplanade Theatre in Padang.
InFinland, during Independence Day parade on 6 December theFinnish Air Force has traditionally performed a flyover of four fighters at the moment when the honour company of the Air force passes the podium where a representative of the war veterans, a representative of the city and the commander of the military province in question receive the parade troops marching past, the Helicopter battalion ofUtti Jaeger Regiment has also performed flyovers timed to happen at the same time when the honour company of theFinnish Army provided by the Utti Jaeger Regiment passes the podium.
InIndia,Republic Day celebrations on 26 January includes a flypast in Delhi.
In thePhilippines, flypasts (also called flybys) byPhilippine Air Force are held to celebrateIndependence Day on 12 June andRizal Day on 30 December.
During October 2006, theIndian Air Force celebrated itsPlatinum Jubilee with a flypast of around 78 aircraft, including theSukhoi 30 MKI, theMirage 2000, andMiG-25 attack aircraft.[5]
On 1 April 2008, a flypast by theRed Arrows over Central London marked the 90th Anniversary of the founding of theRoyal Air Force. The milestone was also celebrated that June followingTrooping the Colour 2008 with a flypast of 55 aircraft, and in July with a Royal Review and flypast of 90 aircraft at theRoyal International Air Tattoo.[6]
Ten years later, the RAF's centenary was celebrated overThe Mall, London andBuckingham Palace on 10 July 2018 with a large-scale flypast featuring the Red Arrows, theBattle of Britain Memorial Flight, and aircraft from several RAF squadrons. This flypast featured 103 aircraft of 24 different types, spread out over twenty different formations. The entire flypast took nine minutes to pass over London, and featured aircraft based from 17 different airfields all over theUnited Kingdom.[7][8][9]
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Achievements inWorld War II were celebrated at the time and continue to be commemorated in flypasts. TheRoyal Air Force used the upper dams ofLadybower Reservoir to practise for theDambusters raids and this is occasionally commemorated in flypasts by theBattle of Britain Memorial Flight.
The largest flypast in history occurred on the signing of theJapanese Instrument of Surrender which formally ended the war between Japan and the allied powers in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945. 400 B-29 bombers and 3000 carrier aircraft participated.[10]
On 15 September 1945, after the war ended, about 300 aircraft flew over London in the firstBattle of Britain anniversary flypast. "The formation was led by 247 Squadron in their newVampire fighters, the first time the public had seen the aircraft."[11] This flypast was led byDouglas Bader.[12]
An attender recalls a victory parade in London on 8 June 1946 featuringtwo flypasts, one during the day and one at night. Scores of aircraft, of many kinds, took part.
The 50th and 60th anniversaries of World War II were commemorated with large flypasts. On 15 September 1990, 168 aircraft in seven formations celebrated the 50th Anniversary of theBattle of Britain. Further flypasts occurred on 6 June 1994, celebrating the 50th anniversary ofD-Day.
Over the weekend of 19–20 August 1995, the 50th anniversary ofVJ Day was marked in London, including "a two-minute silence which...was ended by an Avro Lancaster bomber overflying The Mall and dropping about a millionpoppies over the site."[13] In the evening, there was a further flypast on theThames.[14]
6 June 2004 marked the 60th Anniversary of D-day, with theNormandy landings commemorated by veterans (many now aged 80+ years) and political leaders at locations throughout Normandy. The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight scattered millions of poppies over the veterans as they crossed theEnglish Channel byferry.[15] Later, it flew over the veterans atArromanches, concluding a memorial service with a 47-aircraft flypast of modern military jets led by the RAF Red Arrows.[16] AtPegasus Bridge, theArmy Air Corps conducted a flypast ofLynx helicopters.
On 5 June 2019, a flypast of 24British Armed Forces aircraft was held overGosport to mark the 75th Anniversary of D-Day. The flypast was part of a larger series of commemorative events to mark the anniversary, which were byDonald Trump and other world leaders.[17]
On 10 July 2005, the 60th anniversary ofVE Day was marked by a flypast of vintage aircraft which again dropped one million poppies on crowds inThe Mall.[18]
The 60th anniversary in 2003 of theDambusters raid was marked by a flypast of the last operationalLancaster over the cliffs atReculver, site of secret tests of inventorBarnes Wallis'sbouncing bomb. (This flight was part of a larger series of flypasts over key locations by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.[19])
On 16 May 2008, Les Munro, the last surviving Squadron Leader, andRichard Todd, star of the celebratedfilmThe Dambusters, attended the 65th Anniversary service and flypast overLadybower Reservoir. At 100 feet, as compared to 60 feet of the Dambusters' practice runs, a singleLancaster aircraftpassed three times over Derwent Water. A Spitfire, two Tornadoes, and a Dakota transport plane also participated.[20]
In 2003, the Royal Australian Air Force commemoratedAnzac Day with a flypast of four aircraft -Harvard andWinjeel - over the Cenotaph in Ballarat, Victoria.[21]
TheRoyal Canadian Air Force at theCanada Aviation Museum inOttawa honoured Canada's participation and commemorated the 60th anniversary of theBattle of Britain on 17 September 2006. Modern aircraft performed a flypast along with four World War II planes provided by Vintage Wings of Canada who made a "once-in-a-lifetime formation".[22]
To mark the 70th Anniversary ofVE Day, a flypast of 56 historical aircraft was performed over theNational Mall inWashington, D.C., on 8 May 2015. This flypast was a rare sight for residents, as it was the first time in several years that the restricted airspace over Washington was opened for the occasion.[23]
On 24 September 2020, a similar flypast is set to take place over theNational Mall in Washington, D.C., to mark the 75th Anniversary of the end of the war. This flypast is expected to include nearly 100 vintage aircraft spread across 24 formations. Aircraft expected to take part include theCurtiss P-40 Warhawk,Bell P-39 Airacobra,Vought F4U Corsair,North American B-25 Mitchell,Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress,Douglas C-47 Skytrain,Avro Lancaster,Supermarine Spitfire, andHawker Hurricane.[24] In London, a flypast consisting of the Red Arrows and Battle of Britain Memorial Flight was to be held on 8 May, but was subsequently cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[25]
On 7 May 2007, hundreds of workers atKennedy Space Center watched asUS Air Force Thunderbirds performed a series of passes over the main industrial area, where theSpace Shuttle is maintained and prepared for launches. The purpose of this demonstration was to photograph the planes at KSC for promotional purposes. Almost six months later, in November 2007, the Kennedy Space Center hosted the inaugural World Space Expo. The opening featured an aerial salute toNASA with the Thunderbirds as the main attraction.[26]
Flypasts also demonstrate national pride at landmark entertainment and sporting events.
New Zealand showed its pride at being thelocation forThe Lord of the Rings, at thepremiere inWellington of the third film in thetrilogy,The Return of the King. An Air New ZealandBoeing 747-400 flew inLord of the Ringslivery in a historic flight over Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Gisborne and Napier, "enabling more than two million people, one in two New Zealanders, to share in the excitement of The Lord of the Rings". This was the first time that a 747-400 had undertaken such a flypast in New Zealand.[30]
The funeral of Italian tenorLuciano Pavarotti was sealed by a flypast fromFrecce Tricolori overModena Cathedral, his native town, on 8 September 2007. Tens of thousands of people who had filed past his coffin as it lay in state, witnessed the show of respect and mourning.[31][32]
The memorial service for former Australian Prime MinisterGough Whitlam on 5 November 2014 concluded with a flypast by fourRAAFF/A-18 Hornets inmissing man formation.
The 2022national funeral forMontreal Canadiens hockey legendGuy Lafleur, the franchise's leading scorer, concluded with a flyover from anRCAFCF-18 fighter jet as the funeral procession left Montreal'sMary Queen of the World Cathedral.[33]
